1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a top portion of a container designed with a multi-purpose grip, which increases the ability of a person (a customer) to grip the container by providing multiple gripping options, and more particularly to a tiered bell-shaped top portion of container designed to accommodate grips of various hand sizes, or, different sized grips for a single hand that may hold the container more securely or be more comfortable to the person.
2. Related Art
As explained in the Assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,997 to Ogg, the upper portion or dome of a container has been generally characterized by a circular cross-section with a waist. Some people have been known to use the waist to grip the container for pouring with one hand, but this is not satisfactory in large containers because the waist is too large to be securely gripped by a number of customers desiring to pour out the contents of the container. While Ogg mentions that a stepped dome would be easier to grip, Ogg dismisses this concept because a stepped dome would not facilitate the pouring of contents from the container.
Another container by the Assignee, disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 10/294,696 filed Nov. 15, 2002, has an upper portion or dome with four equally positioned and sized indentations, and a body section with vacuum compression panels. As a result of the equally sized and placed indentations, the upper portion of the '696 Application is formed to a single-size grip. That is, the '696 Application is designed for a single hand size. While the indentations provide a secure grip of the upper dome, the upper portion without the indentations is relatively smooth so that a grip on those portions would be less secure, and when the container is filled may result in a spill.
Containers, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,937 to Prevot et. al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,941 to Semersky et. al., employ special grip panels formed so that a person can grip the container. These containers have the advantage of providing relatively easy pourability for certain sizes; however, grip panels are difficult to provide in large size containers. In addition, these known grip panels are provided below the waist of the container and on either side of the container thereby reducing the usual areas on which a label is placed. It is apparent, therefore, that there is a need for a plastic container that provides the ready grippability and pourability afforded by grip-panel containers while providing large label placement areas and that has sufficient strength throughout to provided rigidity and minimize the flex of the container panels under vacuum. All references cited herein are incorporated by reference as if each had been individually incorporated.